After you entered the working world for good, and got your first "real" job, how long did you last at that specific employer? Did you plan to work there indefinitely, or did you view it as a "practice job" coming in?

I made it for almost five years at mine. I definitely viewed it as a career job when I went in, but after about three years I realized that I wasn't going to make it for another 30.

I lasted at my first "real" job for 4.5 years, and then my second one went 6 years and 1 day. I'm about to hit 7 years at my current job.

In school, I worked on and off at the steak house for 5.5 years, but it wasn't a "real" job. They did discuss a possible manager position, which actually would've paid as much as my first "real" job and probably would've been easier.

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I'd have stayed longer but it went from dream job to nightmarish at the end. I have trouble being a 'company guy' now. I see myself as more of a mercenary - brought in for the skills I have to fix something or build something new. Once the heavy lifting is done I want to move on to the next project or company. I should just go back to contracting and stop pretending I'm an employee.

Since you brought it up, I've had a pretty bad streak of closing places down. My first job was at the NKC Stephenson's, which closed... I left for Golden Corral on Barry Road, which closed... went to the Olive Garden & The Majestic Steakhouse from there. Neither has closed, but The Majestic Steakhouse wasn't in the greatest of shape when I left (but they've turned it around from what I've heard). Worked at Truman Steakhouse, which closed, and I've worked for Farmland, which was by far the biggest corporation I've brought to its knees.

Hallmark is dealing with a down industry, so who knows what the future will bring...

When I got my first "real" job, they told me upfront that they would like someone who will stick around a couple years, so I said I could do that. It has been two years now and I am looking elsewhere, not because I don't like working there, which I could probably do the rest of my life, but I'd like to learn more and have a lot more opportunity in the future. This current job basically has zero movement for the next 30 years and likewise, I will never get a raise. Just looking in jobs in or around kc in the last month has shown me I can make twice the money that I can in Manhattan.

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"It's kinda sad because we can't play basketball no more," Rush said. "Just school the rest of the year. It's bad for me because I don't like school."